Archeologists have found tiles carved with the face of Kala the Hinduism God of Time during excavation at My Son a cluster of partially ruined Hindu temples constructed in the 4th Century in central Vietnam.

They relics of the Champa Kingdom were found in Quang Nam Province's Duy Xuyen District.

The My Son Relics Management Board said on September 9 that it was the first time they had found a Kala face at the site since excavations first began more than 20 years ago.

The ten tiles with the carving were discovered by a group of archeologists who have been excavating Temple E7's eastern side since November 2011 in an 18-month project to preserve and restore the temple.

The agency said they have found five "cultural layers" after digging just one meter underground and the tile with the Kala face, about 12 centimeters in diameter, was found at the fourth layer.

According to the Institute for Relics Preservation, which has invested in the VND9.1 billion (US$436,000) preservation project, archeologists have been very careful in handling the findings and restoring the relics.

However, they said there should be more studies to find out the best way to restore the temples because of the complexity of the cultural layers at the site.

The My Son Temples were recognized by the UNESCO as a world heritage in 1999.

Located on an area of 142 hectares, it consists of eight groups of 71 standing monuments as well as extensive buried relics "representing the complete historic sequence" of construction of tower temples at the site built between the 4th to 13th centuries. The relics also cover the entire period of the Champa Kingdom, according to the UNESCO.